Commentary
In warm up, I was all over the place after zooming around in the driving class (more tomorrow). Wheee! Go horsie! Deep breath. Sit back. Contain self. Contain horse.

First class. Held too much, or too tight, or too something, resulting in a crooked horse, resulting in whacking my stirrup into the side of the arena, resulting in an almighty clang.

Second class. Less clang, more ribbon.

Third class. To stand out in the bigger class, I focused on overall attitude rather than specific technique (i.e. my shoulders). However, I stayed in the same place relative to the adults who showed back, so who knows if it was an improvement or not. I do know that I need to work on traffic management. I’m getting marginally better at riding and equitating at the same time, although I can still forget where I am and look down when thinking about the horse. Riding and equitating AND steering overloads the circuits. There were a few bumper car moments.

I think I know what is needful to improve. Unfortunately, I have run out of practice shows. Nationals here we come.

Helmet watch
I had the only one in my adult class. A few more in the kid WTC class. Spotted two, or the same one twice, on a suit rider. It was a kid/kids, rather than an adult. When helmets come to saddle seat (or western) they will come first on kids, as they did in hunters. I’ve never understood why adult skulls are deemed less likely to go splat. But I digress. I’ll take any progress on offer.